Registering as a payer of RWT

Who needs to register

Interest payers

you pay the resident passive income as part of a taxable activity (such as a trade, profession or business, or an activity carried out by a non-profit body or local authority), or

we've issued you a certificate of exemption from RWT, or

you're a non-resident but are carrying on a taxable activity in New Zealand through a fixed establishment.

Note

If you're not already registered as an RWT payer, you must contact us and register as soon as your resident passive income paid out for the year exceeds $5,000. You won't have to retrospectively account for RWT on the resident passive income you paid out before you reached the $5,000 threshold.

Dividend payers

We automatically register all companies as dividend RWT payers. Any payments can then be made to a separate RWT account for each company.

However, any company, agent or trustee that pays specified dividends will need to let us know so we can send out the reconciliation forms they need.

When you register

We'll ask for some information about how much RWT you expect to deduct each month from interest that you'll pay. This is so we can make sure you receive an IR15P form for the months you need one.

After you register

We'll send the IR15P to you automatically about two weeks before your payment is due. It'll be preprinted with:

your name and address

your IRD number

the period that the IR15P covers

the due date for payment.

Please use the correct IR15P for the period. This will ensure there are no processing delays.

If you have a certificate of exemption

Banks, building societies and trustee companies that have a certificate of exemption must register as RWT payers, regardless of how much resident passive income they pay in a year.

Also, any taxpayer who holds a certificate of exemption and whose income is (or is estimated to be) more than $2 million for any year must register as a payer if they pay out any resident passive income.

Note

If you're not required to register and you pay interest, you may still have disclosure obligations in your income tax return.